Creek Advocate A Pioneer

She's First To Be Nationally Certified

September 21, 2003|By Robert Nolin Staff Writer

COCONUT CREEK — It started more than 20 years ago when she ran the Police Department's dispatch division and began informal consoling for the crime victims she encountered. Now, Judie Banks, the department's official victim advocate, has achieved a national first.

Banks was selected the first victim advocate in the country to be certified by a professional association. In mid-August, the National Organization for Victim Assistance (NOVA) notified Banks she was the first advocate named under a new program designed to offer professional credentials for victim advocates.

NOVA began reviewing applications for certification last spring. A panel of representatives from Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the National Association of Attorney Generals and the National Center for Victims of Crime studied an applicant's training, experience and letters of recommendation.

The NOVA panel settled on Banks, who estimates she has counseled thousands of victims, for the first certification.

"Judie is a shining example of an outstanding crime victim advocate," said Jeannette Adkins, president of NOVA's board of directors.

Banks, 57, of Deerfield Beach, was supervisor of the dispatch division when she started counseling crime victims in the early `80s. When Police Chief George Raggio assumed his job in 1994, he assigned Banks to be a full-time victim advocate.

"He was really the driving force that allowed me to create the victim advocate unit," Banks said. "I couldn't have achieved this goal had it not been for the city giving me free rein to do my job."

Raggio was equally effusive in his praise for Banks. "Judie is at the top of her game," he said. "This national certification is proof of her commitment and professionalism."

Over the years, Banks has assisted victims of every kind of crime: domestic fights, homicides, rapes and elder abuse. "You just run the gamut," she said. She has also continued training throughout the years. "It does involve continuous schooling," she said.

The new certification program elevates the role of a victim advocate, Banks said.

"Being a victim advocate has evolved into a profession of its own," she said.

And being the first one so designated is a special distinction. In late August, Banks was honored at NOVA's annual conference in New Orleans.

Robert Nolin can be reached at rnolin@sun-sentinel.com or 954-572-2024.